5. BART ROBERTS -
265'6" A 70-mph catamaran that seats 25. A landing craft for transporting
a car or SUV to the beach. A 25-foot-long swimming pool. Eleven (yes,
11) Jacuzzis. And lest we forget, the piranha tank. All these and more
are aboard Bart Roberts, the biggest, baddest pirate ship of ’em
all. Besides being christened after the famous buccaneer and evoking his
spirit in the master suite, the yacht has nine guest staterooms named
for other well-known pirates. There’s Capt. Kidd, Anne Bonny, Howell
Davis, Samuel Bellamy, John “Calico Jack” Rackham, John Avery,
Henry Morgan, Mary Read, and Blackbeard. In fact, it’s Blackbeard’s
cabin that the first guests back in 2002 fought over the most. No wonder—the
bed is outfitted in black leather, and in the portrait, Blackbeard points
a pistol that eerily seems to follow you no matter where you stand. While
the vessel was converted (she was originally a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker)
with the intent to sell her, thus far she’s remained in the hands
of the gentleman who oversaw the refit. But that might be changing; shortly
before we went to press, we received word that a buyer was keen on acquiring
her. Let’s hope that if the deal goes through the interested party
will keep Bart Roberts’ spirit intact. We’d hate to see
the innovative decor, like the halved cannon and cannonballs adorning
the saloon’s stone fireplace, replaced with comparatively ho-hum
items like mahogany display cases for crystal.Y: 1963/1996/2002; B: Canadian Vickers, Canada; N: Lennart Edstrom;
H: Steel; E: 2/2,000-hp Rustons